You are reading

City Budget Allocates Funds for Speed Cameras, Open Streets and Queensboro Bridge Bike Path

Mayor Bill de Blasio released the city’s $98.6 billion executive budget Monday (Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)

April 27, 2021 By Allie Griffin

Mayor Bill de Blasio released the city’s executive budget for Fiscal Year 2022 Monday and included millions of dollars in funding for speed cameras, open streets and bike lanes among other items.

The $98.6 billion “Recovery Budget” has been padded with federal stimulus money to help New York City come back from the pandemic and resulting financial crisis.

De Blasio has allocated millions to transform city streets as part of the recovery budget through programs like Open Streets as well as the creation of bike lanes.

He has earmarked $4 million to support community partners within the Open Streets program and $8.5 million to streamline the process for Open Restaurants outdoor dining applicants.

“Here, we put the resources in place to keep those programs moving forward, to allow that beautiful re-imagining of our streets and to make sure that all communities can participate,” de Blasio said during a press briefing Monday.

The budget also includes $46 million in funds for the operation and maintenance of speed cameras across the city.

The cameras capture photos of drivers going more than 10 miles per hour above the speed limit. The city then mails $50 tickets to the registered owner of the car caught speeding.

By Fiscal Year 22, there will be 2,220 cameras citywide — up from nearly 1,000 that are placed throughout the five boroughs now.

De Blasio also said that $5 million in capital will be set aside to fund the creation of a separate pedestrian lane on the Queensboro Bridge.

Pedestrians and cyclists currently share one narrow lane on its northern outer roadway.

The city will used the funds to convert the southern outer roadway — currently used by cars — into a pedestrian pathway. The existing shared pathway on the northern outer roadway will become a two-way bike lane.

De Blasio has earmarked $2 million for the creation of a bike lane of the Brooklyn Bridge as well.

The pandemic-era budget also includes investments to expand early childhood education, create city cleaning jobs, fund community-based anti-gun violence programs,  increase mental health support and more.

“With the Recovery Budget, New York City will emerge from this challenge stronger, fairer, cleaner, greener and safer than ever,” de Blasio said.

The shared bicycle and pedestrian pathway on the north side of the Queensboro Bridge. This narrow strip will be dedicated for bicyclists– while a vehicle lane on the south side of the bridge will be converted for pedestrian use. (Photo: Queens Post)

email the author: news@queenspost.com
No comments yet

Leave a Comment
Reply to this Comment

All comments are subject to moderation before being posted.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Recent News

Op-Ed | Four years after Hurricane Ida, Queens deserves real climate resilience

Sep. 2, 2025 By Assembly Member Jessica González-Rojas

Four years ago, Hurricane Ida tore through our neighborhoods of East Elmhurst, Corona and Jackson Heights, leaving behind devastation we will never forget. We lost neighbors to the floodwaters. Families saw their homes destroyed, their basements wiped out, their lives upended. Immigrant families—so many of them undocumented—were hit the hardest, often excluded from relief altogether. Ida was not just a storm; it was a wake-up call.

Fall fun in western Queens: Your guide to the best seasonal events

Aug. 29, 2025 By Jessica Militello

With beach days and summer BBQs behind us, the start of September rings in the start of magnificent Fall foliage, Halloween and more fun activities that come with the start of Autumn, including a list of Fall events in the area. From apple picking to seasonal ciders and more, there is tons to explore in the community. From Mystic Markets to scary movie meet-ups and more, here is a list of Fall events you do not want to miss.

Fresh Meadows MS-13 gang associate sentenced to nearly a half-century in prison for murder of Corona teen in Kissena Park: Feds

An MS-13 gang associate from Fresh Meadows was sentenced to 45 years in federal prison on Tuesday, Aug. 26, for the 2018 slaying of a Corona teenager in Flushing’s Kissena Park.

Juan Amaya-Ramirez, 27, and his co-defendant Oscar Flores-Mejia, 25, from Elmhurst, who is also an associate of the transnational criminal organization, pleaded guilty to the murder of 17-year-old Andy Peralta in Brooklyn federal court last September.

AG’s office launches investigation into death of man run over by police officer in Flushing Meadows Corona Park

The New York Attorney General’s Office of Special Investigations (OSI) has launched a probe into the death of a civilian on Saturday, Aug. 23, following a motor vehicle collision involving NYPD officers in Flushing Meadows Corona Park.

At approximately 4:37 p.m., an NYPD officer from the 110th Precinct in Elmhurst was driving westbound in a marked police cruiser, a 2015 Ford Taurus, at around 10 miles per hour in front of the Queens Theater on United Nations Avenue South, across from the Unisphere, when the vehicle ran over a man who was allegedly lying face up on the roadway prior to the collision, police said.